Penguins ready to face off against Crush

BOB BREIDENBACH/Providence Journal
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie Brad Thiessen stops a shot during Game 7 of the team's AHL playoff series against the Providence Bruins on Wednesday night.
in Providence, R.I. Thiessen was perfect in goal as the Penguins won 5-0 to complete their coneback from an 0-3 series deficit.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The morning after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins lost 2-1 in overtime to fall behind 3-0 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Providence Bruins nine days ago, coach John Hynes called his team together and asked a question.

He didn't ask how they were going to become the third team in the 77-year history of the AHL to come back from a deficit that large to win a best-of-seven series. If he had, he might have seen a room full of players with blank expressions looking back at him. After three straight losses, it would be nearly impossible to imagine four straight wins.

He asked a different question instead.

"What are the reasons we can win just one game?" goaltender Brad Thiessen recalled his coach saying. "What are the reasons we can come back in Game 4?"

The players could wrap their brains around that one. Five or six of them offered responses, Thiessen recalled.

Two days later, the Penguins scored three second-period goals and secured a convincing 3-1 victory in Game 4 at home. And the rest, in the most literal sense of the word, is history.

"Any time you're part of a team that makes history and does something that only two other teams have done in 75 years, it's pretty special to be a part of," Thiessen said. "I'll definitely savor that."

While the Penguins started winning after the meeting, the comeback actually began well before that. In fact, it came after the first period of Game 2.

In the first four periods of the series, Providence outscored the Penguins 12-6, netting those dozen goals on just 41 shots. Top-line forwards Chris Bourque, Ryan Spooner and Jamie Tardif combined for eight goals and 16 points. Providence's power play went 4-for-8.

In the last 17 periods of the series plus about four minutes of overtime, the Penguins outscored the P-Bruins 16-4, and Providence needed 181 shots to reach that meager total. Bourque, Spooner and Tardif combined for two points, the assists on a Craig Cunningham goal on a bad line change early in Game 6. Providence's power play went 0-for-20.

"We didn't think we were that far away in Game 3 and the second half of Game 2," center Warren Peters said.

"For four periods, we were terrible to start the series. We showed signs. I think if anything, that's what gave us some confidence and belief that we could go with this team."

The No. 1 star of the comeback, without question, was Thiessen. His 46-save performance in Game 6 was one for the ages and his .977 save percentage in the series was off the charts.

"You don't really think about it when you're in the game," Thiessen said. "You're just trying to give your team a chance to win. Whether it's 98 percent or 82 percent, if we're winning the games, it doesn't matter in the playoffs. I was happy I was able to come in and give us a chance."

Thiessen had plenty of co-stars, however.

Top-line forwards Chad Kolarik and Trevor Smith, outshined by their Providence counterparts in the first two games of the series, combined for five goals and 10 points during the comeback. Third-line forwards Riley Holzapfel, Peters and Adam Payerl combined for five goals as well.

Rookie Brian Dumoulin, assuming more and more responsibility with Dylan Reese injured, had two goals and three assists in the four wins. Captain Joey Mormina added four assists.

Most importantly, the coaching staff found a defensive style that the Penguins could win with and the players implemented it consistently. They played a compact game and blocked shots with reckless abandon.

"Guys did a really good job of blocking shots and sacrificing," Hynes said. "When we were in trouble, we found a way to get in shot lanes and not let pucks get to the net."

The Penguins will face another challenge, perhaps an even stiffer one, when the Eastern Conference finals begin Saturday night. The Syracuse Crunch was the highest-scoring team in the league in the regular season and they haven't lost a playoff game yet, going 7-0 through the first two rounds.

The way the Penguins played in the last 17 periods against Providence, though, the onus might be on Syracuse to prove it can score rather than the other way around.

"Anytime you get this late in the playoffs, you're obviously going to face a difficult team," Hynes said. "We just have to be prepared and ready to go."

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